A/HRC/34/62 19. On 27 September, the Special Rapporteur participated via video link in a workshop titled “Pathways to just and sustainable peace: how can international actors support transitional justice processes?”, organized by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Working Group on Peace and Development and hosted by the Federal Foreign Office, in Berlin. On the same day, he presented the report of the independent investigation on Burundi to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/33/37), together with the two other experts. 20. On 28 September, the Special Rapporteur participated in an expert round table, held in Brussels, on exploring opportunities for enhanced cooperation between the European Union and the African Union on transitional justice, organized by the Egmont-Royal Institute for International Relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, the Leuven Institute of Criminology and the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development of the European Commission. The next day, he gave a lecture titled “Current challenges for transitional justice: linkages with peace, security and development”, hosted by the Permanent Mission of Belgium to the European Union. 21. On 4 October, the Special Rapporteur participated in an “expert convening on remedies”, held at New York University School of Law, to discuss reparations for Haitians. 22. On 26 October, he presented his report to the General Assembly (A/71/567). The next day, he participated in a side event titled “Time to end intentional destruction of cultural heritage: a human rights call to action”, organized by the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights. 23. On 11 November, the Special Rapporteur participated in a round table with representatives of civil society in Colombo on the preventive role of civil society networks in transitioning countries. III. Victim participation in transitional justice measures A. Introduction 24. As he did in his latest report to the General Assembly, in the present report the Special Rapporteur makes a fundamental distinction between the “epistemic” and “legitimacy” arguments in favour of victim participation in transitional justice measures. 25. Epistemic arguments refer to the kind of information and insight that can come about through participation, and the positive consequences of such a gain in knowledge. Epistemic arguments for victim participation, accordingly, posit that asking victims to participate in transitional justice measures can: • Increase the likelihood that transitional justice measures will capture the sense of justice of victims and their judgments of what would constitute effective redress • Help ensure a close fit between the measures and the needs of victims, on the one hand, and important contextual factors such as cultural, historical and political realities, on the other • Broaden the range of adequate alternatives as more ideas for effective redress are put on the table 26. According to legitimacy arguments, victim participation is important not just because of specific contributions in terms of information or insight that victims may make, but rather because: • Participation in itself provides a measure of recognition to, and empowerment of, victims 5