It also praised a 2005 law that allowed religious communities to register as non-commercial organizations, to give them some rights even though the Georgian Orthodox Church is the only religious community to have full legal status there.

"As a result, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Seventh-day Adventists and 12 other religious denominations were approved for registration," the report said.

The report also had some warnings for Cuba because, among other things, it has not granted any recognition to relatively new religious groups.

"The government, however, has not prevented activities of the Baha'is and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), groups that are not officially registered," the report said. But it called on Cuba to end "the practice of arbitrarily denying registration to religious groups."

Also of local note, University of Utah President Michael Young was a longtime member of the commission and was its former chairman. He resigned from it shortly after becoming university president.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com