THE United States on Wednesday deplored the harassment of journalists and civil society activists in Zimbabwe after the arrest of two journalists and three media observers in the past month.
"The embassy of the United States of America in Zimbabwe notes with regret and concern the increased frequency of arrests and detention of media workers and civil society activists throughout 2011," a statement said.
Three workers of the watchdog organisation Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ) were arrested in Gwanda, 400 kilometres (250 miles) southwest of the capital Harare on Monday.
They were charged under the repressive Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for holding an unauthorised meeting and for participating in a gathering to promote public violence.
Police on Tuesday questioned MMPZ head Andy Moyse for hours in Harare before he was released.
Authorities also raided the organisation's offices and seized DVDs which they alleged contained subversive content.
The United States embassy called for the parties to the unity agreement to "implement their written commitments to a free and unfettered media and civil society."
Last month Zimbabwe police arrested the editor of The Standard newspaper, Nevanji Madanhire and reporter Nqaba Matshazi on defamation charges over a story on a health insurance company owned by a senior central bank official.
The two are out on bail of $100.
Several other journalists were either arrested or held overnight by police in Zimbabwe this year.
Media in Zimbabwe have operated under strict rules for the last decade, with several newspapers forced to shut down while local journalists and foreign correspondents have been deported and harassed by police.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a long-time rival of President Robert Mugabe, has vowed to abolish the country's Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which bans foreign journalists from working permanently in the country.