A press release by the human rights organisation stated, "Today's execution of Mohammad Afzal Guru indicates a disturbing and regressive trend towards executions shrouded in secrecy and the resumption of death penalty use in India".

"We condemn the execution in the strongest possible terms. This very regrettably puts India in opposition to the global trends towards moving away from the death penalty," said Shashikumar Velath, programmes director at Amnesty International India.