Fiji has been under a state of emergency since Commodore Frank Bainimarama seized power in a coup Dec. 5, and the powers of the military and the police have occasionally blurred since then.

Troops on patrol have been arresting and questioning some criminal suspects — usually accused of petty crimes or drug abuse — but have come under the spotlight for beating suspects and opponents to the coup.

International concerns have been raised over the more than 200 complaints recorded by the South Pacific nation's Human Rights Commission in the past three months. Local media have reported that soldiers have beaten up to four people to death since the coup, and that police are investigating two of the cases. The military has not responded directly to the allegations.

Bainimarama, the interim prime minister, said today that the military does not condone the use of violence against civilians.

"The military will henceforth be involved only in the manning of checkpoints, community work and public relations," he said in a statement.

Cases "involving abuse of human rights will be thoroughly investigated on an independent basis by the police and the Human Rights Commission," Bainimarama said, adding that the military is "responsive to public views on abuse of human rights and privileges."

He said he didn't want the effort the military government has put into "rescuing this nation" to be "tainted with images of abuse and brutality."

Bainimarama said the presence of troops on the nation's streets, where they have manned checkpoints since ousting the democratic government on Dec. 5, will be reviewed at the end of March.

Military forces spokesman Maj. Neumi Leweni labeled the human right abuse reports as "absurd and insulting."

"We had a similar report last week claiming a man died as a result of assaults by soldiers, but there was nothing of that sort," he told The Associated Press.

The Northern Divisions police media liaison officer, Sergeant Ajay Nand, said there had been no such report from Vanua Levu, where the fourth victim allegedly died after a military beating.