UPDATED: Human Rights Foundation says Swank was warned about the activities of Ramzan Kadyrov before she attended the lavish event. 
 
 Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said he didn’t want a fuss for his 35th birthday party but that didn’t stop his friends from throwing a multimillion-dollar bash attended by Hilary Swank and Jean-Claude Van Damme. 
 
 
 
 Kevin Costner was invited to the Oct. 5 event but declined due to his production schedule on the Hatfields and McCoys television series -- a development that in retrospect, was a gift from the public-relations gods. Eva Mendes and Colombian singer Shakira also were invited but did not attend. A spokesman for Mendes says the actress was never scheduled to attend the event "due to availability." 
 
 In a statement to THR, Human Rights Watch called on stars who attended the party for Kadyrov to reimburse any money that they were paid to participate. "Ramzan Kadyrov is linked to a litany of horrific human rights abuses. It's inappropriate for stars to get paid to party with him. It bolsters his image and legitimizes a brutal leader and his regime. And getting paid to be part of such a lavish show in Chechnya trivializes the suffering of countless victims of human rights abuses there," the organization said. 
 
 
 
 According to Human Rights Watch, Kadyrov presides over law enforcement and security agencies that have been implicated in abductions, torture and executions of those suspected of involvement in the Islamist insurgency in Chechnya. Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights Foundation, called the stars’ attendance at the celebration “disheartening and shameful.” 
 
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 According to the Human Rights Foundation, Jean-Claude Van Damme stood on stage and said, “I love you Mr. Kadyrov” while Swank said she was honored to be in Grozny and wished Kadyrov a “Happy Birthday.” After Swank spoke, British violinist Vanessa-Mae performed for a reported half a million dollars. There were fireworks and performances by acrobats. The celebration was held on a floating stage on the River Sunzha; portraits of Kadyrov were displayed throughout the city. 
 
 
 
 According to one talent rep, stars are paid in the six figures to attend such events. Their perks routinely include private jets and first-class hotel suites. 
 
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 Human rights activists raised concerns with Swank’s representatives before the event. According to the Human Rights Foundation, her manger, Jason Weinberg, stated in an email on Sept 26, “Hilary has no current plans to attend the party” in Chechnya. But both Swank and Van Damme are visible at the lavish event in photographs and on YouTube. Weinberg did not respond to a query from THR; nor did reps for Van Damme. 
 
 
 
 “Hilary Swank obviously has the right to earn a living entertaining the highest bidder, but this sort of venality should be exposed — especially after claiming she was not going,” Halvorssen said in a statement. “Would she have accepted an invitation to entertain Pinochet? Al-Qaeda? The apartheid government in Pretoria? We must remember the disgrace of Mariah Carey, Nelly Furtado, Beyoncé and 50 Cent were exposed to after singing for Gaddafi’s family and earning millions of dollars for it.” 
 
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 Kadyrov had said the celebrations, financed by the Kremlin, were held in honor of the 193rd anniversary of the founding of Grozny, Chechnya's capital. That anniversary was actually pushed to coincide with Kadyrov's birthday. 
 
 
 
 According to the British paper The Telegraph, Kadyrov appeared uncertain when asked who paid for the party. ''Allah gives it to us,'' he said, before adding: ''I don't know, it comes from somewhere.'' ||||| American actress Hilary Swank, center, attends a concert in the new "Grozny City" residential and commercial complex in the Chechen capital Grozny late Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011. Chechnya's provincial... (Associated Press) 
 
 Hollywood celebrity Hilary Swank said she "deeply regrets" visiting a concert held on the birthday of the Kremlin-backed Chechen leader, who is accused of torture, abductions and killings by human rights groups. 
 
 The two-time Oscar winner said that she was unaware of the disappearances, house torchings and extra-judicial killings reportedly orchestrated by Ramzan Kadyrov in the southern Russian republic. 
 
 "I deeply regret attending this event," Swank said in a written message to The Associated Press on Thursday. "If I had a full understanding of what this event was apparently intended to be, I would never have gone." 
 
 Swank issued the message after the Human Rights Watch criticized her _ along with Belgian actor Jean Claude Van Damme and British violinist Vanessa Mae _ for attending a show that, it says, "trivializes the suffering of countless victims of human rights abuses." 
 
 Representatives for Van Damme and Mae have not responded to AP's requests for comment. 
 
 On Kadyrov's 35th birthday on Oct. 5, his government organized a lavish concert in Chechnya's provincial capital, Grozny, that has been restored after being flattened during two wars between Chechen separatists and Moscow since 1994. 
 
 The celebrities _ as well as dozens of Russian politicians and pop stars _ showed up to congratulate and lavish Kadyrov with praise from a stage arranged between a gigantic mosque and a newly built business center. 
 
 During the birthday show, Swank said that she had been taken by the Chechen government's "passion to make peace and to make something beautiful." She claimed in her apology that her invitation to the concert made no mention of Kadyrov's birthday. 
 
 At the show, Swank also appeared to be one of the few women to wear no headscarf even though women in Chechnya are compelled to adhere to an Islami dress code. Those who refuse to obey have reportedly faced threats and harrassment from Kadyrov's feared security forces. 
 
 Swank won Oscars for her roles in "Boys Don't Cry" and "Million Dollar Baby." Her screen credits also include "Freedom Writers," "P.S. I Love You" and "Amelia." 
 
 Kadyrov is a former separatist rebel who has boasted of killing his first Russian soldier at age 15. He went over to the federal side at the start of the second Chechen war in 1999. 
 
 A string of Kadyrov's critics and political rivals have been brutally murdered in recent years in Russia, Austria, Dubai and Turkey. Kadyrov has consistently denied involvement in any of the killings, saying the accusations are fabricated to blacken his name. 
 
 The birthday show was the latest in a series of expensive and extravagant events sponsored by Kadyrov's government despite Chechnya's high poverty and unemployment rates. 
 
 He has spent millions of dollars to acquire well-bred horses that have competed in some of the world's richest races and to renovate a soccer stadium in Grozny. International soccer legends have visited Chechnya to play friendly matches. 
 
 Under Kadyrov's leadership, Chechnya has become relatively quiet, and the insurgent violence has largely migrated to neighboring republics of the volatile North Caucasus region.
– Note to celebrities: We know swanky multimillion-dollar parties are probably fun and you get paid a lot to attend them, but it's probably best to skip those held in honor of political leaders accused of kidnappings, torture, and extrajudicial killings. Hilary Swank and Jean Claude Van Damme did not take that advice, which did not win them points with Human Rights Watch. The actors attended a party and concert last week to celebrate the 35th birthday of Chechnya's leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, the AP reports. Human Rights Watch tells the Hollywood Reporter that activists warned Swank’s people about Kadyrov’s less-than-savory reputation before the event, but she attended nonetheless. She reportedly said she was honored to be there and wished the leader a happy birthday, while Van Damme stood up and said, “I love you Mr. Kadyrov.” Others invited to the lavish event, which was held on a floating river stage and included fireworks and acrobatic performances, included Kevin Costner, Eva Mendes, and Shakira, none of whom attended.