Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Eritrea were classified as "countries of particular concern" for the first time in the US annual report on international religious freedom.
The 2004 report released by the State Department maintained China, Myanmar, Iran, North Korea and Sudan in the category among alleged violators of religious freedom.
Iraq, which was included in the category together with the five countries in 2003, was removed from the list this year in keeping with the department's precedent not to report on "our own governance."
The reporting period ends on June 30, 2004, which roughly coincided with the date of the transfer of power from the Coaliation Provision Authority to the Iraqi interim government.
The department said freedom of religion did not exist in Saudi Arabia and not protected under the country's laws.
Islam is the official religion in Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the United States, and all citizens must be Muslims.
"The government prohibits public non-Muslim religious activities," it said. "Non-Muslim worshippers risk arrest, imprisonment, lashing, deportation, and sometimes torture for engaging in religious activity that attracts official attention."
The report also maintained Myanmar, China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam as "totalitarian regimes" restricting religious freedom in their societies.
The department said that Cuba and the five Asian nations regarded some or all religious groups as enemies of the state and that the practice of religion was often seen by them as a threat to power.
US law mandates that the State Department issue an annual report on the status of religious freedom around the world.