Hilary Swank has expressed regret over attending a concert held on the birthday of the Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, The Associated Press is reporting. The two-time Oscar winner said she was unaware that the leader is accused of orchestrating disappearances, torture, abductions and killings in the southern Russian republic by human rights groups.

For Kadyrov’s 35th birthday on October 5, his government organized a concert in Chechnya’s provincial capital, Grozny. Dozens of celebrities and Russian politicians attended the concert to congratulate Kadyrov.

In a written message to The AP, Swank said “I deeply regret attending this event. If I had a full understanding of what this event was apparently intended to be, I would never have gone.” She added that the invitation sent to her for the concert made no mention of Kadyrov’s birthday.

Swank issued the statement after the Human Rights Watch criticized her, Jean Claude Van Damme and British violinist Vanessa Mae for attending the concert. The organization said the show trivializes the suffering of countless victims of human rights abuses.

Kadyrov is a former separatist rebel who entered government at the start of the second Chechen war in 1999. He has claimed he killed his first Russian soldier at age 15. Some of his critics and political rivals have been killed in recent years in Russia, Austria and Dubai, though he has denied involvement in the murders.

Written by: Karen Benardello