Through a series of overt and covert actions, the security forces of the United Arab Emirates have created an environment in which internal criticism is practically nonexistent and external critics are targeted.

The result is a shiny veneer of liberalism — propped up by partnerships with Western organizations such as the Louvre, Guggenheim and New York University — while in reality the country operates like a modern police state.

For the average Emirati, the security forces are a well-known, if enigmatic, institution. One Emirati said, “If you say the wrong thing here, then they’ll come and make you disappear.”

The all-powerful, opaque security agency operates outside of the judicial system, often detaining its own citizens and holding them without charge or notice to families for months at a time. One Emirati disappeared after conducting an interview with CNN. More than a year later a court set him free because of his poor health, yet Obaid Yousef Al Zaabi is still being held by the security forces somewhere in the country, activist Ahmed Mansour told Al-Monitor.