Looting and wreckage removal.
Ive studied the timeline and source of the first reports of the rampant looting at MH17.
These reports were subsequently repeated around the world and "looting" seems to be interchanged with "wreckage removal".
The majority of reports originated from two journalists with Ukraine backgrounds who were on scene a few hours after the event.
Both guys apparently do not have a internet presence (twitter or Facebook) or reports published before the Ukraine conflict.
It is if they setup shop as freelancers to document the conflict. I say "shop", but there is no money in shooting a fringe conflict, $25 for a picture, $100 for video. Either you are motivated by pursing a photographic career or you are passionate about a niche subject.
There is no resume or record online of their experience, training or qualifications.
Incredibly, one of the guys spoke of the heartbreak of seeing victims so he searched though baggage to recover passports and tickets so he could return them to family!
There is no question about the passion they have for their country and commitment to recording the conflict, bravo for that, but with such passion comes a susceptibility to being overwhelmed by events. Without any management or oversight it is easy to overstep the boundaries of ethical journalism (if they have ever studied it).
In my view, they do not present as impartial, experienced nor professional journalists.
Yet they were accorded "special correspondent " status by Networks and newspapers around the world.
Of the several other professional photojournalists on scene that I have either spoken or written to, none have seen any looting.
Whilst the monitors were not around in the first 24 hours, this report from
Sabrina Tavernese, a Journalist with NY Times, who was also on scene the day of the crash, serves to balance those initial reports.
On July 24th Sabrina wrote
There have been widespread reports of looting, but Mr. Bociurkiw said his monitoring group, which has now spent more time at the site than any other, had not seen any. The Malaysians said they had seen valuables in the fields untouched, he noted, including a bottle of duty-free perfume, auto parts, backpacks full of belongings, a watch and some jewelry.
As with the myopic hysteria about systematic looting, shots being fired at monitors, obstruction and disrespect for victims I've yet to see hard evidence of wreckage being removed.
History suggests that a small number of cases of looting occurs in such a disasters as has occurred with Lockerbie, Space Shuttle and train crash disasters in France and Spain.
The more images and unedited video we see the better, but it is a dangerous matter indeed for the world to assume a freelance locally based photojournalist is not biased.
So beware the opinions from the first on scene in a conflict zone, it may be a passionate local freelancer, in lieu of a professional journalist.