this is d. w. news a live from berlin germany and turkey look to band-aid the bumps long political breakfast triggered by the jailing of this german turkish journalist but dennis you tell says that he doesn't want his release team to fight any so-called dirty deal between the two nato allies also coming up europe comes under fire for its human rights record she would rights watch raises the alarm over rising sea to phobia and harsh refugee policies on the continent we will speak with the group's european director. plus

a journey into the longest underwater cave on the planet we will travel down to eastern mexico for a look into its depths we're dealing traces of an ancient civilization that once reigned supreme. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program thanks for joining us germany and turkey are looking to mend a serious political rift triggered by ankara's arrest of german turkish journalist denis you child nearly a year ago the two sides have now resumed bilateral talks after berlin had vowed to block major arms sales to turkey until his case is resolved it is now signalled that could change but you chelsea says that he does not want to gain his freedom as part of any dirty deal. from his prison cell in turkey. said he

rejected any trade off that would see him released in exchange for new arms sales to turkey he told the german d.p.a. news agency for my part i don't want my freedom tainted either by the sale of tanks or by the deeds of any war mongers i don't want to be a part of any dirty deals you tell was responding to an interview in news magazine with the german foreign minister. to block a major arms sales to turkey he said quote it will stay that way as long as the case remains unresolved. rejected characterization of the talks between the two countries. if it's a deal that the public about the arrangement that's not the case here.

on monday you kells lawyer filed a motion with the turkish constitutional court calling for him to be freed the country's foreign minister. said he hoped release was imminent. but for days another istanbul court has ignored a constitutional court order to free to turkish journalist prompting fears you chelles imprisonment could drag on. in other news the european union has been slammed for its treatment of migrants and asylum seekers and a new human rights watch report the organization says that the union stepped up efforts to prevent fresh arrivals in twenty seventeen the e.u. has also been criticized for appealing to countries outside of its borders to stem the flow of people trying to reach europe now kenneth roth who is the executive director of human rights watch he launched the world report back in twenty eight

team are over other this is the world report for twenty eighteen and he launched it in paris on thursday this is what he had to say have a listen. a year ago as president trump entered the white house it seemed there was no stopping the global wise of autocratic populace around the world political leaders for building support by demonizing minorities attacking us from the rights principles and undermining faith in democratic institutions what's been remarkable in the last year is the enormous resistance to that agenda there is a shift where that resistance has been strong populist advances have been limited but where the populist message of hate and intolerance has been met by capitulation or indifference the populist have flourished. and that was kind of threw off speaking a short while ago we have here in the studio also a representative of human rights watch to williamson he is the director of the europe and central asia division of human rights watch thank you so much for

joining us you nice to be here what you say is the overall message in this report as my director ken roth says where there's been people standing up to a populist political leaders then there's been some progress on human rights or at least efforts to hold back severe criticism if you take the elections in france in two thousand and seventeen for instance the victory of president raul shows that people were willing to turn away from a populist message an embrace somebody who was standing off with human rights a small example in hungary for instance the government was trying to shut down an important university the central european university in budapest that didn't happen because people went out and protested against it even in the u.s. there was resistance to some of president trump's measures on migration on health on women's rights and so on so there was some some some progress despite a whole series of serious setbacks on human rights in two thousand and seventeen

but even still i mean these populist efforts they still exist don't they and i just want to quote something from your report on and perhaps we can drill down a little bit deeper into it because i've read here. you know phobic populace hostile to human rights shaped politics and that european governments seem determined to keep migrants away at all costs how did human rights come to those conclusions human rights watch for. of course i mean we saw election successes in austria in the netherlands for instance for for populist parties or major gains by parties a populist party is in power in austria now so those are governments which are. you know promoting anti immigration policies hostility towards asylum seekers nationalism and xenophobia and that's the basis for our findings at the e.u. level the e.u. introduced a new directive restricting asylum seekers' rights and limiting that also on the issue of counter-terrorism for instance which also flows into this then

a phobia issue unfortunately there are sixty people were killed in terrorist attacks within the e.u. last year governments have a responsibility to respond to that but they should do so in a way which protects basic freedoms as well as improving security for citizens so we saw some negative development on that front as well i want to turn to another negative development the e.u. basically getting slammed for shifting the burden of responsibility when it comes to asylum claims to countries outside of europe's borders so essentially you know shifting that burden of responsibility turkey is one of these countries what other option though does europe really have. i mean the option is to course. the you need to work with countries like turkey with libya and so on as well but it needs to really have a balanced approach it needs to. find ways legal ways of people to coming coming to the e.u. to seek asylum in needs to have less less of

a hostile approach on its borders towards asylum seekers it needs to integrate them better when they are when they are in the e.u. it needs to stop putting the main focus on security at the borders and on and doing deals with countries like turkey and libya which do not respect basic fundamental human rights and therefore the e.u. is moving away from its core values by focusing on those countries can you talk to us a little bit more about that because i mean for you take the case of libya for example . we know that e.u. states they continue to liaise with libya as you just highlighted there but it's not even signed up to the refugee convention and it doesn't have a functioning asylum system exactly i mean human rights watch in two thousand seventeen documented severity severe abuse in detention centers in in libya rape of women in severe malnourishment harassment physical abuse torture of asylum seekers and this is a country the e.u. is is trying to rely on for for keeping particularly african migrants from north

africa away from the e.u.'s borders i shouldn't be happening the e.u. should at the very minimum be setting standards in the in the in libya dealing with the the provisional governments there in a more active direct way to make sure that any steps being taken by the libyan government do comply with e.u. standards on human rights and asylum seekers so in general the message still so much work to be done although some progress that you're seeing globally absolutely ok you williamson thank you so much for joining us here in the studio to tell us a little bit more about this report as we mentioned you are the director of the europe and central asia division of human rights watch thank you. well turkey as we heard also faces intense criticism for violating human rights and a deteriorating rule of law we mentioned earlier in the program the case of german turkish journalist denis you tell who has been in prison in turkey for almost a year you tell is one of more than one hundred and forty journalists being held in

turkey after a failed attempt to overthrow the government in twenty sixteen w. spoke to a turkish court reporter who has covered many of the journalist trials there have a less. at breakfast shanahan shushed cohen isn't ready checking to see if they have been any more arrests for years the thirty year old has worked as a court reporter covering the trials of her connie. i check if other journalists were imprisoned since the police weren't at my place at five am they could have struck somewhere else. she has lost her sense of humor without it she says she wouldn't be able to last in her job. she reports from the heavily guarded palace of justice in istanbul the place where freedom of press in turkey came to an end. i would just there to be just like every day when i walk over to this clase it's like i see this building as

some kind of a normas monster awaiting me with an ugly grimace it's good to be killed i. cameras are not allowed in the courthouse so from this point we were cord with a hidden cell phone today she attends another case against colleagues of the daily paper hoary at the accusation betraying state secrets a few other reporters are present trials against journalists have become part of a sound routine in turkey the coverage of the trial itself is obstructed by the courts the scenes oriel. they say there's no place for the press the building is huge but the courtrooms are very small the smallest rooms are always selected for these important trials. no more than twenty to twenty five visitors can fit into them about. this time sean combs colleagues walk free at least for the time being after two hours attorneys and defendants come out of the courtroom after the trial

is postponed for two months over the three charges gruen sends a copy of the court's decision to have pain. outside in front of the courthouse the lawyer for the journalists describes the repeated postponement of the trial as a tactic to keep the defendants on depression. and her colleagues are watched and filmed by the police the entire time. show school and returns to the editorial department of her newspaper him her it three of her colleagues are currently in prison and dozens of accusations are pending. the editors fight to survive and she knows that she could be indicted at any time for her court reporting my job yards in turkey there is no system of law that protects the rights of individuals entire groups in society have been declared enemies and their

rights are just taken away so look if you will. and the world would not be aware of this if shannon didn't get up every morning to report from the inside of his temples palace of justice. the world's longest underwater cave has been discovered in mexico measuring going to sound big three hundred and forty seven kilometers the submerged cavern in the mexican state of content of blue isn't only remarkable because of its size but also because of the number of architectural treasures found inside they date back thousands of years and are helping to unravel the mysteries of the ancient mayan civilization that once dominated the region. it's going to be the biggest underwater cave on the planet stretching for three hundred fifty kilometer as. divers discovered a connection between two submerged cabin systems in eastern mexico after

a decades long search. there are about two hundred kids in this under water system solvers that we thought they might be connected but we weren't sure now we know about the collection and flows of water out of. research has found human bones and pottery from thousands of years ago it comes from the ancient mayan civilization that once dominated the region. it gives us an amazing perspective a new understanding of how the leaders of the entrance settlements and all of them my own developed. scientists hope the discovery will shed new light on the mayans who considered this huge cave sacred. a quick reminder now the top stories we're following for you before we go germany and turkey have resumed bilateral talks that were suspended after

a rest of the german turkish journalist eleven months ago dennis you child remains in prison but says that he does not want to be released as part of any dirty deal between the two allies. you're up to date i'm sorry kelly in berlin thanks for watching i hope to see you again soon. the people of the world for information they provide the names. they want to express t.w. on facebook and twitter up to date and in touch follow us.