The ICRC made that assessment in its appeal of January 4, 1979. The parties to the conflict did not affirm or invalidate this position; they simply did not reply to this appeal. Nevertheless, in the beginning of March, Vietnam informed the ICRC that all prisoners of the Democratic Republic of Kampuchea's armed forces captured by the Vietnamese forces had been handed over to the government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea. It is unlikely that these captives were able to lay claim to their status as prisoners of war.