Did the Allies Cover Up Japan’s WWII War Crimes?

The saga of Alfred Bird and the Singapore War Crimes Trials suggests they did

Indicted Japanese war criminals standing to attention in the dock of the Singapore Supreme Court at the beginning of the trial — 21 January 1946. From WikiCommons. Source: IWMCollections IWM Photo No.: CF 1051. Post-Work: User:W.wolny. Licence: Unrestricted in due to IWM

Seventy-seven years ago, in one of the last official surrender ceremonies of World War II, Singaporeans gathered in their city center, in front of the grand façade of the Supreme Court Building, to witness Japan’s formal return of Singapore to British colonial rule. Singaporeans, like other Asians, had suffered innumerable atrocities and privations under the Japanese, and even the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) initially welcomed the British back as liberators. All were eager to see the enemy brought to justice for the suffering they had inflicted during the war. So it was that, just three months later, British War Crimes Trials commenced in this same Court.

Picture the scene, as described in the Straits Times on 22 January,1946:

Military personnel, Allied observers, news cameramen, and reporters jostle among members of the public in the courtroom’s gallery… The accused enter the dock, bow, and stand to attention. They wear identical khaki pants and short-sleeved shirts. They have signs numbered from one to ten for identification. At the bench, three British military judges take their places. Two judges are British, and one judge is of Indian ethnicity…